242 MANAGEMENT OF MEADOWS. 



torn. But the Hollanders surpass every other people on 

 earth in this particular. Nearlyjvery foot of land they own 

 has been reclaimed from the sea by a system of dykes, 

 levees and ditches. Their lands being lower than the water 

 courses that run through them, their only resource is to lift 

 the waters that are collected in the ditches by means of 

 steam pumps. This is done, it is true, at the expense of 

 the public, but the farmers pay an annual tax to keep it up, 

 or they would soon be flooded by the accumulating waters 

 that penetrate the soil from every side. Now, if by this 

 practice, they are able to give one thousand dollars per acre 

 for ' tbe land, and pay annual drainage tax to an amount 

 equal to the value of our lands, why may we not pursue the 

 simple act of puttiug our lands in as good condition at a 

 tithe of the cost of theirs ? 



There are many methods of draining land, but we will con- 

 fine ourselves to the method ot doing it as effectually as the 

 Dutch, but at such an expense that even a renter can afford 

 it, for the increase of one year's crop. A German gardener 

 of New York leased ten acres of land that proved to be 

 boggy, and the first three years his crops, in spite of all, the 

 attention he could give them, barely paid rent and support- 

 ed him. He was advised to try draining, and although but 

 seven years were left of his lease, he did it at a cost of $500. 

 The result fully justified the expense, for in the remaining 

 seven years he made, over and above all expenses, money 

 enough to pay $12,000 for the farm he had drained. No 

 land can produce well without the aid of heat and proper 

 aeration. If the soil is full of water it will be impervious 

 to the air, and the water will also counteract the effects of 

 the sun's rays, and the ground will be cold and lifeless. 

 Without the influence of heat and air necessary chemical 

 changes in the constituents of the soil cannot take place, conse- 

 quently the roots fail to find the nourishment they are seek- 

 ing — they fail to penetrate the soil to a sufficient depth, and 

 instead of a rich subsoil, there will only be surface soil to 



